ALEXANDR NIKITIN is surely one of the heroes of our times. A retired Russian submarine commander, he risked all to tell the West how the former nuclear-powered northern fleet in the Russian Arctic disposed of its nuclear wastes (Thistle Diary, 8 June, p 51). Nikitin apparently faced a treason charge, which carries the penalty of death if proved. So I asked Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind what the West was doing about the situation.

Rifkind replied that a spokesman from the press agency of the Russian Federal Security Bureau, the state security police, announced on 11 October that Nikitin's most serious offence was the misuse of his identity card, and that he could not receive the death penalty for his alleged treason (This Week, 19 October, p 7). But as yet, he said, there were no details about the charges against Nikitin or anything concerning changes to them.

So ...

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